fun with darts

Published in The Post-Star (G1)

1/19/06

They placed their toes against the worn lines of tape on the bar's wooden floor, leaned forward, set their jaws in determination, and let it fly.

Bull's-eye.

Once a week, some of the best shooters in the region take aim at the Parting Glass, an Irish pub in Saratoga Springs that has devoted an entire back room to darts. It has hosted its own league since 1985.

"The Parting Glass is a legendary darts bar. It's a great atmosphere, and I'm saying that as an outsider who's played in other leagues," Peter Ryby said. He recently moved to the area from New Jersey, and had heard of the league before he got here.

The league plays two seasons a year, taking summers off. Membership varies from year to year, but this season turned up a healthy crop of 64 members (16 teams), said Clay Magnusen, a longtime member and organizer.

Last week, the group celebrated the season's end with dinner, plenty of beer, and a final shootout to determine who would take home the $960 prize pot their $4 weekly dues had financed.

Even with so much money on the line, the mood was light. Darters called out jokes and insults to each other across the noisy room as they took aim at the circular cork targets.

They all gave the same shrug-your-shoulders response when asked why they joined the league:

It's fun.

It's something to do on a Tuesday night.

What they didn't say -- but is obvious to any observer -- is that it's also a family of sorts.

"We have players who have been in the league for 10 to 12 years, so there's a good core group of shooters," Magnusen said. "We have members who have competed at the regional and national level, but we also have people who come in saying, 'Teach me how to play darts.'"

What most people like about it, he said, is that anyone can play, regardless of age or gender. Married couples, parents and their twentysomething kids, middle-aged guys, retirees and college students all mingle at the pub each week in the name of darts.

"I'm not into sports in general, but I got into this because my best friend is in it, and it's a fun night out," said Cheryl Murdie, a 25-year-old from Saratoga Springs. Her friend, Joy Bernash, took second in the women's all-star category this year.

"I like it because it's something my husband and I can do together," Bernash explained.

Nearby, a father-and-son team took turns in front of one of the room's 10 dart boards.

"I've been shooting since I was 12, and I guess this is already my fifth year in the league," said Chris Favaro, a 23-year-old who works in the restaurant business.

"This guy got me into it," he added, pointing out his father, Don Favaro.

"He's my third son I've gotten in here, and the fourth is well on his way -- as a matter of fact, he beat me the other night," Favaro growled. "It's relaxing. And this is one of the best bunches of people I've ever met."

That sentiment was echoed by Larry Bemis, 45, who said he already knew of the league when he moved here from Portland, Maine, in 1997. He's been a darter for more than two decades, so he knows talent when he sees it.

"There are enough good shooters here that it's competitive, but it's still fun," he said.

His team placed first this season, but Bemis sat out the final shootout because his right arm was in a sling. He sat by the bar and sipped a beer with his good hand while watching his friends play.
He said the sling was because of hand surgery, but Ryby had a different explanation.

"Larry's so good, we all got together and broke his arm," he joked.

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